Commonwealth Youth Games beckons for U-17 team

The Vice President of the Ghana Beach Soccer Association (GBSA) Fred Nii Obour Afful has confirmed that the association will prepare at least one team to represent Ghana at the next Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas next July.

Mr Afful revealed that the initial games line up did not include Beach Soccer.

However, a direct communique from the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) has now confirmed that beach soccer has been included in both female and male categories for the under 17 age bracket.

Although Ghana does not have a juvenile beach soccer team, the invitation is viewed as a great opportunity to groom teenagers for the future.

Beach soccer Ghana has experienced difficult years since the first league kicked off in 2011 with a corporate social responsibility package of Gh 40,000 cedis from CAL Bank.

Since then, the association has made meaningful strides by forming a national team, Black Sharks in 2013 who made their continental debut in Morocco.

The Sharks subsequently qualified for the first ever CAF beach soccer tournament in Seychelles in 2015 and followed up with another qualification to Nigeria 2016 in Lagos.

Ghana is currently ranked number 7 on the African continent and 48th by FIFA.

Club representatives, executives and stakeholders of beach soccer are scheduled to meet at the home of Beach soccer, Laboma Beach resort on Friday to deliberate on this and other matters before Congress

It's widely believed that this years league will be televised by a media partner which will give beach soccer wider coverage and potential to attract sponsors.

Incidentally, Beach Soccer Ghana holds one vote at the GOC elections with the President Yaw Ampofo Ankrah also seeking to get beach soccer a GOC non Olympic slot.

The timing of the Commonwealth Youth Games invitation for Beach Soccer Ghana has coincided with the crucial GOC elections next Wednesday 15th March.